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This 20th century documentary by Agnès Varda, one of the French New Wave's leading directors, investigates gleaning, in all senses of the term, around the French countryside. The concept of searching for food, knick knacks, discarded items, and relationships brings true meaning to the phrase one man's trash is another man's treasure. Survival and possibility permeate the film along with Varda's own personal narrative, as she becomes la glaneuse in collecting footage for this documentary. One of her most popular films, it has won top honors around the world, including at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Born in Sarajevo, Aleksandar Hemon visited Chicago in 1992, intending to stay for a matter of months. While he was there, Sarajevo came under siege, and he was unable to return home. Hemon wrote his first story in English in 1995. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 and a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation in 2004. A serious film buff, his most recent novel, The Making of Zombie Wars, includes 196 script ideas gleaned here and there…

At a time when alternative facts are all the rage, we return to cinéma-vérité and the documentary form at large to examine the world we live in and the people we live with.

Revisit works by seasoned French directors, such as New Wave's Agnès Varda, and discover some of the best of a booming new generation of filmmakers consistently singled out for praise by the international press.

Don't miss out on young Chicago filmmakers with a selection of short documentaries curated by the Chicago International Film Festival and presented prior to each feature. Join our guest speakers as they shed light on facts often stranger than fiction and become a critic during our post-screening discussions

Are you ready? Because anything can happen when you walk out, camera in hand, to meet reality…